‘My Friend Miss Flint’ is a typical British comedy, written by successful UK actor, Donald Churchill and Australian playwright, Peter Yeldham. The play Premiered in 1984; so, the script shows its age slightly. This is a funny comedy play with plenty of twists, coupled with passages of pandemonium and confusion, however, it is not a farce.
The season is being presented by the Kalamunda Dramatic Society at KADS Theatre, 6 Central Mall, Kalamunda from Friday 5th March until Saturday 20th. The curtain goes up on this 135-minute fun show at 7.30 pm.
With the small theatre and COVID limitations, the seating is extremely restricted.
The Scene: A sitting room / office in the 1980s. Suburban London.
The Set: The imposing and realistic set looks as though it had been lifted straight from a house. Set, design and construction by Peter Bloor, Martin Dorman and Karen Woodcock.
To the audience’s left are bathroom and bedroom doors. To the right an archway leads to the kitchen. At the rear of the room is a large window overlooking the city skyline. A couple of steps lead up to the front door.
The magnolia walls (everyone in the UK has magnolia-coloured walls) have adornments and paintings ranging from a photo of Percy Thrower, once a UK gardening guru, to a small Picasso. There is a bookcase, a small drinks cupboard and a writing bureau. A centre stage coffee table is accompanied by a pair of bright ‘flower power’ seats.
Stage management by Karen Woodcock ran smoothly. The impressive range of everyday props were supplied by Karen Woodcock and Grace Booker. Karen is respected as one of those people who will always support you when you need help.
The Lighting and Sound were smoothly teched by Mark Ramsay and Gabriel Ferrari.
It is early morning and a wealthy TV gardening personality and academic, Tom Lambert (Peter O’Connor, an absolute Ardal O’Hanlon clone and with all his comedic talents, straight from ‘Death in Paradise’) staggers into the sitting room. There are ladies’ clothes scattered everywhere. Tom is just about to set off on his morning run, when his last night’s conquest, Lucy Napier (Roxanne O’Connor) totters into the room. He has little memory of the previous evening’s events, and absolutely no idea what her name is.
The landline ‘phone rings and the caller asks to speak to a Miss Joanna Flint. Tom says ‘sorry, never heard of her’. Seconds later, Tom’s ex-wife, Sarah (Fi Livings) who is his dodgy, but well-meaning accountant calls by to warn him that there is an Inland Revenue inspector, Gilbert Dodds (John Pomfret) enquiring about one of Tom’s employees, his public relations consultant, Miss Flint. Mr Dodds becomes a constant threat.
One day, whilst Tom’s part-time home help and cleaner – who is an out-of-work actor friend, Albert (Alan Morris) – is doing the Hoovering, Albert has the pleasure of meeting an attractive lady, known as ‘CP’ (Karin Staflund). Could this be the beginning of a new meaningful relationship?
This play has a slowish start as it lays the scene, but soon the laughs flow and the great cast gets a chance to show its comedic skills as the deception .
Once again, Karin Staflund has joined Director Ken’s team and has given a superb and powerful performance as the mystery woman. Karin will be directing KADS’ July production, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.
Roxanne previously played Miss Brahms in ‘Are You Being Served?’ now she has another successful cheeky and giggly part as Lucy. Her real-life husband Peter O’Connor really managed to inhabit the character of innocent Tom. You could feel his naivety as things crumbled.
When it comes to confusion Alan Morris is a master, and in this play, I was reminiscent of his outstanding performance in Open All Hours.
Fi Livings is always good value, and she has joined in the cast’s chemistry perfectly.
John Pomfret has acted in a wide range of plays, from historical to ‘Dad’s Army’. In this production he has a delightful aura of threatening authority.
Like most UK comedies it is chewing gum for the mind. Plenty of giggles and belly laughs. Well directed and presented by a wonderful cast.